Comedy's Central's 'Detroiters' lands interns from city's job program

Darren Terhune, 24, of Detroit is an intern participating in a works program with the City of Detroit and the Michigan Film Office, now working on the set of 'Detroiters', the Comedy Central show that is being in filmed in Detroit Monday, Aug. 29, 2016. He speaks to the Detroit Free Press about his experiences.
Regina H. Boone/Detroit Free Press
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Darren Terhune, 24, of Detroit stood outside the Temple Bar during a break from Monday's filming for "Detroiters," talking about the stars of the upcoming show.

"They're cool dudes. They are funny, so that explains why they're on Comedy Central," he said with a laugh.

Terhune, an aspiring music producer, is glad to be working on the set of a high-profile cable TV show. It's an opportunity that grew out of collaboration between the city, the State of Michigan and private companies to make Detroit an appealing place for filming — even in Michigan's post-film incentive world.

Seven young people have landed internships with "Detroiters," the upcoming sitcom from Sam Richardson (HBO's "Veep") and Tim Robinson (a former featured player on NBC's "Saturday Night Live").

The show, which expects to conclude filming here this week, focuses on two small-time advertising guys who dream of landing big accounts. It's expected to premiere on Comedy Central in early 2017. The idea was inspired partly by the classic local TV commercials that Richardson, who grew up in Detroit, and Robinson, a Clarkston native, watched as kids.

The series has hired a substantial amount of Michigan talent — 136 different crew members and 80 people for on-camera roles — over the course of filming the pilot in 2015 and a season's worth of episodes this year.

The "Detroiters" internships are the first jobs on a film track offered by Grow Detroit's Young Talent (GDYT), the city's summer jobs program. This year, the GDYT has placed 8,157 young people in positions that provide job-skill training, experience and potential career paths.

"Being able to get into the film industry was a great find," said Jose Reyes of Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation, the lead agency for GDYT in 2016. "We want to encourage giving the young storytellers a chance to hone their skills."

It's also a first for the Detroit Film Initiative, a new partnership between the city, the State of Michigan and private-sector companies.

The end of Michigan's film incentives in 2015 was a major blow to the state's ability to lure movie and TV productions. The initiative grew from a common goal of making the business case for Detroit as a filming location, said Selam Ghirmai of the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office.

The initiative's goals are attracting and assisting national and international productions, along with growing and strengthening Detroit's creative economic sector in film, TV, digital and music arenas. "Detroit is the star of the show. We want to be its agent," said Ghirmai.

The Detroit Film Initiative got plugged into GDYT with help from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's office and Adrian Tonon, director of customer service for the City of Detroit.

"We had to just create a subprogram within it," said Ghirmai.

Now in its second year, GDYT provides six-week internships to young people aged 14-24 in partnership with more than 200 companies. Youths are paid $8 to $9.50 per hour depending on age, experience and job type. Supported by businesses that offer jobs and by community groups, GDYT raised nearly $10 million for the 2016 program.

"Detroiters" producer Steven Yell said it has been "amazing" to work with the interns and watch them get real-world experience. "When we first heard about the program, we wanted to give something back to the city. It wasn't replacing local hires. It was adding help."

Before starting work, the "Detroiters" interns went through a two-day production boot camp led by Detroit filmmaker Sultan Sharrief (2010's "Bilal's Stand," which screened at the Sundance Film Festival).

Sharrief taught them about the various jobs in a film crew, the lingo used on a working set and other basics.

"If you don't know what's going on during filming, it can actually get very overwhelming," said Sharrief, who just wrapped his own filming on a PBS pilot for a docu-series called "Street Cred," which follows young people through the process of learning how to make a film.

"Even being provided a great opportunity won't be great if you don't know how to take advantage of it."

Davey Sawitzky, 24, a University of Michigan graduate, found that interning with "Detroiters" led to being hired for a three-week stint as a production assistant.

It's the first step on the ladder of a film career, but it's a crucial foot in the door. Said Sawitzky, "I treat being a PA as doing whatever needs to be done to help production stay on time and on budget."